


Nightmare, baby?

by lilyxxxooo



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Boyfriends, BoyxBoy, Cute, Fluff, Happy, Love, M/M, Night, Nightmare, Parenthood, Phan - Freeform, Phanfiction, Sleep, danhowell, parent!phan, phillester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24252292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyxxxooo/pseuds/lilyxxxooo
Summary: Emily awakes in the middle of the night after having a nightmare. She goes to her dad's for comfort but doesn't expect the reaction she gets.Genre: FluffWarnings: swearing
Relationships: Dan Howell & Phil Lester, Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Kudos: 41





	Nightmare, baby?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope everyone's okay. I'm writing parent!phan again because I can so like, yeah. I hope you enjoy!  
> Also, follow my tumblr @dramaticlester

Ever since adopting their first child, neither Dan nor Phil had slept properly for a long time. Once she finally got a little bit older and slept through the night, they had regained some kind of routine again and could stay up past 11 pm without having to drink 5 cups of coffee the next day. That had been until their son came along.

Now, Dan and Phil loved their children more than life itself and had taken to parenting well...for the most part. Dan had never gotten up in the middle of the night when Emily was a baby because he was such a heavy sleeper, or if he was woken by her crying he would just 'accidentally' elbow Phil real hard in the ribs so he was forced to get up. This was the one thing that Phil well and truly hated about Dan. Not in a joking way, or an endearing way. No, it rattled him in a way nothing else did. 

*****************************

"Dan!" Phil shouted. Emily was a tiny baby at the time, cradled in his arms, blowing raspberries as he tried to feed her. Phil was somewhere beyond seething, having to breathe through gritted teeth to control himself. "Fucking hell. Dan!"

"Calm down!" Dan had said as he strolled into the kitchen. Phil had looked at him with the angriest expression Dan had ever seen, hatred burned bright in his eyes. The hatred wasn't really at Dan, he couldn't hate Dan, it was just more-so at his ignorance of the situation.

"It's 11 am!" Phil shouted. "I've been up with our baby for 6 fucking hours. I have had about 1 hour of sleep if you could even call it that. What the fuck is your problem?"

Dan gulped, reaching to take the baby out of Phil's arms. Phil had let him take her before storming off to their bedroom, slamming the door behind him. He had climbed into bed and cried himself to sleep.

Sure, Dan had let him sleep for a while, looking after the baby himself. She was easy and quiet, rarely ever crying. Dan felt guilty, he did. Seeing the bags under his husband's eyes as he tried to keep calm wasn't something Dan had ever wanted. They'd been warned time and time again by their mothers that babies are "much harder to look after than fish, Phil." Of course, they didn't pay attention. So when they'd gotten Emily, she became the apple of their eyes. They were fantastic parents, always feeding her when she was hungry, bathing her, singing to her and loving her unconditionally. These were some of the things they were best at. Now, if only Dan wasn't a lazy shit and helped in the middle of the night, then they'd be perfect.

When Dan had set her down for her nap, he went to get Phil coffee and some toast, creeping into their bedroom and setting down the things on Phil's bedside table. Dan stroked his cheek to wake him up, crouched beside the bed. He felt terrible waking him, but it was nearing 4 pm.

"Dan, I don't want to see you," Phil mumbled into the pillow, pulling his face away from Dan's touch.

"I'm sorry, love. I didn't realise the strain I was putting on you. I promise I'll try harder to be better," Dan whispered, long eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks as he pulled his chapped lip in between his teeth. Phil caught his eye. He didn't look angry anymore; Dan thought he was just too tired to be angry.

"You're fine, Dan. Just help me in the middle of the night, please. It's all I ask. I literally can't do it on my own anymore," Phil begged.

"I know, I'll look after her tonight. I'm sorry, again. I never meant to push you this far."

Phil forgave him, of course. How could he not when, after he'd finished his 'breakfast' in bed, he went into the living room to see Dan holding Emily on the couch, rubbing her back as he hummed quietly.

*****************************

That was 7 years ago, though. After the incident, Dan had helped in the middle of the night. He was great actually, sometimes pulling Phil back down onto the bed as he tried to go to her. 

"My turn," he'd say, leaving the room before Phil could protest.

Once Emily didn't need seeing to in the middle of the night, Dan started to sleep through the night again. They got used to it but, then again, Phil had always been better at adapting to change. That's why he was always the one to get up with their son. It was like deja vu right in front of Phil, the constant burning in his eyes as he tried to function like a normal human being, going off one hour sleep (if he was lucky.)

One night, Phil had decided he had had quite enough. He needed sleep. So, Phil had played Dan's game. He had elbowed Dan in the ribs, harder than Dan ever had done to him, pretending not to love the high shriek Dan let out as he bolted upright. 

"Phil, was that necessary? Fuck," Dan grumbled.

"Colby's awake. You promised you would stop this after Emily," Phil reminded him, already snuggling back into the covers. Dan had begrudgingly got up, throwing a middle finger up at Phil that he didn't see due to him already being asleep again, and had gone to tend to their son.

This is why Dan blames his son on his fucked up sleep schedule.

Once Colby started to sleep through the night, Dan would still be awake at 1 am, head reeling with unwritten words, his fingers itching to do something productive or creative. He had tried to get these feelings out by playing the piano, but Phil had shouted at him because "It's 2 am, Dan!"

So, frustrated and wide-awake, Dan resorted to working on his projects at night. Sure, first he would tuck the kids into bed (maybe go for a quickie with Phil if they were in the mood), but that was where it ended. The kids didn't need his help in the middle of the night anymore, and Phil was so tired that he'd pass out straight after him and Dan had laid there together for a while. Dan would head back into the living room or the office, working until his eye's burned and the things he wrote stopped making sense.

This is why he was climbing into bed at around 3 am on a, really fucking cold, Wednesday morning. He was ready to be pulled under, ready to submit to any living being if it meant he could sleep. He had been working hard on a project for nearly a year, and that night had been a particularly productive evening. He had done it all alone because no other semi-functioning human was awake to help him. When he got into bed, Phil moved forward to wrap him up in his arms, subconsciously kissing his shoulder. Phil's feet were freezing against his calves, but he was used to the vampire-like temperature of his husband. Dan interlocked their fingers on his stomach, a satisfied smile reaching his face as he tried to relax and focus on his husband's slow breaths against his neck. 

*****************************

It was dark, wherever he was. He couldn't hear much, maybe another person's heartbeat if he strained. He couldn't see anything either. All he could feel was stares; the eyes of another person trained on him. He felt his body shiver. That's when it went wrong. 

Dan's eye's flung open, the power of the movement too much for his own mind to comprehend...

Dan screamed, his arm propelling backwards at such a high velocity that, when it collided with the thing behind him, he was met with a groan and the sound of a heavy thud. Swiftly followed by the sound of spluttering behind him. 

It took a while to process the scene. In front of him stood Emily, her bear in her arms and her head tilted sideways. Her eyes were wide and questioning. He looked to the space beside him. Oops.

"Shit, Dan," Phil wheezed, dragging himself back up onto the bed, reaching for his glasses on the side table and turning the lamp on. He coughed, his hand cradling his ribs.

"I'm so sorry!" Dan rushed. 

"Why'd you do that for, daddy?" Emily asked. 

Dan glared, his heart barely beginning to return to its normal pace. 

"Are you okay?" Dan asked Phil, completely ignoring the little demon child's question.

"I think...my rib is broken," Phil said, moving his upper body experimentally. He winced a bit, before shaking his head.

"Seriously?" Dan questioned, eyes wide.

"No, silly," Phil giggled. "I'll be fine. Probably just a bruise."

"She was stood in front of me liKE-" Dan started, widening his eyes and trying to imitate Emily's stare. "Fucking creepy, man."

"Don't swear in front of her," Phil said, his hand coming up to cover his mouth as he tried not to laugh.

Dan turned back to the child in question, fixing her with his sternest look, "Don't do that again. I just nearly killed your Pa."

Emily smiled sheepishly, reaching her arms up. Dan rolled his eyes, reaching down to lift her, placing her between him and Phil.

"What's up, sweet?" Phil said to her, kissing the side of her head as he leaned into him.

"I had a nightmare," she murmured, her eyes filling with tears and the grip on her bear increasing. Phil awed, ignoring the pain in his side to pull her onto his knee. She hugged him, her little arms securing around his neck. Dan rubbed her back soothingly, smiling fondly at the memory of doing it when she was a baby. Somehow, it was one of the only things that could ever calm her down.

"Do you want us to sit with you until you sleep again?" Phil murmured into her hair.

She pulled back, a pout on her lips, "I'll sleep here, Pa?"

Phil looked at Dan for approval. Emily had never actually slept in their bed, even when she was a baby. Dan moved a lot in his sleep and Phil worried he'd suffocate her. 

"You can sleep here, bear," Dan smiled, pulling the duvet back so she could settle in the middle of them. Phil took his glasses off and turned off the light before settling down, as well. Dan didn't miss the wince as Phil tried to lie down in a comfortable position. He reached across Emily to take a hold of his hand.

"I'm sorry again, love. She scared me," Dan whispered.

"It's okay. You got me back for that one time I elbowed you to get Colby," Phil giggled, a mischievous smirk settling on his lips.

"I elbowed you to get Emily first!" Dan whined.

"Hey! You said that was accidental!"

"Daddy told me that he pretended to sleep," Emily chipped in. Dan scoffed.

"That was our secret."

Emily just giggled, her eyes closing as she tried to sleep again. Dan peered over her body to see Phil already looking back at him, a look of unadulterated fondness caressing his features.

"I love you," Phil mouthed, tightening the weak grip of their interlocked fingers. Dan mouthed it back, his face threatened to crack with how much he was smiling.

They stayed like this as they fell back to sleep, content and happy Emily was okay again.

In the morning, Dan woke up to Phil, Emily and Colby all on his bed, Colby peering at him with curious blue eyes, wide and bright. He giggled as Dan woke up, reaching out to poke at the soft skin on Dan's cheek.

And yes, he decided, he wouldn't have it any other way in that moment.


End file.
